US envoy to Israel’s rare Egypt trip postponed: US official

JERUSALEM: A planned visit to Egypt by Washington's top envoy to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has been postponed, a US official said on Sunday (Sep 28).

Earlier, a US embassy spokesperson had confirmed Huckabee would travel to Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials, in what media reports described as a rare trip by a sitting US envoy.

"The trip has been postponed," the US official said, without giving further details.

Media reports said the talks were expected to focus on the Gaza war, which has strained relations between Israel and Cairo.

Egypt, along with the United States and Qatar, has been mediating between Israel and Hamas in efforts to end the nearly two-year-old conflict.

Cairo has criticised Israel's ongoing air and ground assault in Gaza City, where the United Nations estimated a million people resided before the offensive began.

Since the war broke out in October 2023, Egypt has repeatedly warned that the fighting risks pushing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across its border into the Sinai Peninsula.

Israeli media have also reported concerns over an Egyptian military build-up in Sinai, though Cairo insists its forces are deployed there solely to defend its borders.

Huckabee was appointed ambassador to Israel by President Donald Trump shortly after his re-election in November.

Trump unveiled a new plan to end the Gaza war in talks with Arab and Muslim leaders at the United Nations last week.